The
Simon Wiesenthal Center launched a new campaign in major
German cities in late July, known as Operation Last Chance
II, in order to bring former Nazi war criminals to justice.
The initiative was spearheaded by Efraim Zuroff, chief
Nazi hunter for the Center and director of its Israel
office. In the wake of a press conference of the German
judicial authorities held on September 3, it is now known
that thirty-one Auschwitz guards are alive and living
in Germany while another seven are living in other countries.
The program consisted of large posters hung up in popular high-traffic areas
in metropolitan German cities such as Berlin, Hamburg,
and Cologne for as long as three weeks. The posters were
of a black-and-white photograph of the railroad entrance
to the Birkenau death camp and stated that it is “Late,
but not too late” for justice. The poster text declared:
“Millions of innocents were murdered by Nazi war criminals.
Some of the perpetrators are free and alive. Help us
to bring them before a court.” A monetary rewards of
as much as $33,000 for information resulting in the capture,
conviction, and incarceration of Nazi war criminals was
offered as well. “Unfortunately, very few people who
committed the crimes had to pay for them,” says Zuroff.
Zuroff notes that there are
several key objectives in seeking out the remaining war
criminals:
The passage of time in no
way diminishes the crimes or the guilt of the killers,”
Zuroff said, “age should not mean that murderers have
immunity, All victims of the Nazis deserve that efforts
be made to hold the killers accountable. Today’s campaign
is a reminder to the world of the magnitude of the crimes
of the Holocaust and a warning to contemporary anti-Semites
and racists. Today’s campaign and any resulting trials
help counter Holocaust denial and distortion”
“Even though the guards that
could currently be brought to trial are low on the Nazi
totem pole, and even though there is only a slim chance
that these guards will be convicted and punished, it
remains extremely important to pursue justice,” says
Aryeh Rubin, director of Targum Shlishi, an organization
that is supporting the SWC initiative. “As long as any
person who committed crimes against the Jews remains
alive, it is our obligation to future generations to
leave a proactive legacy, not one of inaction.
“It is also our obligation
to the survivors. I do not want to have to look into
a survivor’s eyes and say ‘It’s over, they are too old,
so we stopped.’ There is an additional benefit derived
from keeping this history alive and relevant for Germany’s
younger generation – it is important that they are aware
of their grandparents’ actions. It is my hope that Dr.
Efraim Zuroff continues in his work as long as any Nazi
guard, participant, or active onlooker remains alive.
May the message to those who wish to harm our people
be that eventually justice will be served.”
Prior to the poster campaign,
Operation Last Chance had received the names of 660 suspects,
106 of whom have been submitted to prosecutors for trial,
according to Zuroff. The poster campaign generated a
wealth of information. To date, two cases have been submitted
to the German governmental authorities, one involving
a male guard and one a female guard at death camps.
The original Operation Last
Chance was started by SWC’s Israel office, along with
Targum Shlishi, in 2002. “Operation Last Chance was our
attempt to respond proactively to the reality of the
diminishing opportunity to bring Holocaust perpetrators
to justice. Time was running out and we sought to maximize
justice while it was still possible to do so,” said Zuroff.
At that time, Operation Last Chance was launched in Germany,
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Austria,
Croatia, and Hungary.
Speaking at a press conference
at the Bundestag in Berlin in January, 2005 to announce
the campaign’s original launch in Germany, Aryeh Rubin
said that Operation Last Chance “is NOT about revenge.
The eighty-year-old guard has lived his life and has
his grandchildren, while we have no grandmothers, the
repository of our oral culture. That can’t be revenge.
IT’S ABOUT JUSTICE…This is really our last opportunity
to achieve justice for the crimes of the recent past.
History will not judge today’s post-war generations by
the cars they drive, the movies they produce, or the
buildings they erect. They will be judged by the society
they build and the legacy they leave.” breakingisraelnews.com
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